Session Information
Session 9A, Imagination, Visual Representation and Spatial Conditions of Learning
Papers
Time:
2005-09-09
13:00-14:30
Room:
ENG
Chair:
Elaine Ricard-Fersing
Contribution
School-buildings are important for the organised teaching and learning activities in society. Actually, it is hard to see how this form of education could be accomplished without schools. Our knowledge about the function of schools, however, seems to be limited to the tacit knowledge of the users. Those who uses the school knows exactly how to use it and, therefore, they lack distance to the school. They have an implicitly functional knowledge how the school works, but not an explicit knowledge about the school and what it does with its users. Architects, however, have an explicit knowledge about buildings, but they lack pedagogical knowledge. The less explicit pedagogical instructions they have, the more they have to rely on own experiences from school or/and contemprary trends. Against this background, there seems to be a need for explicit knowledge. Unfortunately, however, this field of knowledge has been neglected, but during the last years a growing interest can be observed. What knowledge and practical consequences this research can accomplish depends, however, on its philosophical point of departure. The intention of this paper is to discuss the ontology of school-buildings and its epistemological consequences from a life-world approach.In the ontological part of the discussion, I am going to focus on pedagogical signification as a basic concept in the ontology of school- buildings. Houses are significant and filled with significations. But how should the pedagogical significations of school-buildings be understood? In one sense it would be possible to argue that the architect materialises his/her intentions in the building. The pedagogical significations of school-buildings are, however, not dependent on the intentions of the architect. They could rather be said to be materialised in the materials of the building, although they cannot be identified with the materials. It is, however, not only particular objects and rooms in schools that have pedagogical signification. All parts and objects of the school are referring to each other and to the people working there, and together they constitute a particular world of pedagogical significations.Against this background it is not evident that we can achieve knowledge about the pedagogical significations of schools by interviewing the architect of the school. It doesn't seem more easy, however, to interview teachers or pupils about them. This are two epistemological consequences of the ontological inquiry. As a methodological alternative, I want to suggest the use of field methods that combine closeness and distance.
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